Chicken and tomato spaghetti

Pasta gets a bad rap but it can be a great mid-week dinner for the family. Check out this delicious family friendly recipe for chicken and tomato spaghetti.

Pasta has had a rough time over the last few years. It’s been off many shopping lists mainly due to the choruses of ‘it makes me fat’. This makes me sad because so many of us love pasta. But is pasta really the villain it is made out to be?

Not really. Eating too much of anything will lead to weight changes – it’s got nothing to do with carbohydrates or gluten or wheat. Pasta itself is not the problem – its only downfall is that on its own it isn’t especially nutritious and nor are many of the foods we commonly add to it – cheese, oil, minced meat – and it replaces the vegetables that we already don’t eat enough of.

So if you can promise to include your vegetables with your pasta then I promise you it’s ok to keep eating it in moderation.

One of the things I love about pasta dishes is that you can use up lots of bits and pieces from the fridge and pantry – parsley, basil, garlic, fresh or tinned tomatoes, anchovies, zucchini, pumpkin, eggplant, capsicums, leafy greens, chilli, lemon, olives or cheese are just a start of ideas for your next pasta dish. In this case we use the chicken and vegetable braise we made and then add a few extras.

Recipe – serves 4

3-400g dry spaghetti (depending on meal sizes)

Olive oil 3tbs

4 cloves garlic peeled and sliced

1 bunch fresh basil picked and sliced

Anchovies 4 piece (optional but recommended)

½ cup dry white wine (optional)

2 cups leftover Dijon chicken and vegetable braise

2 x 400g tinned crushed tomatoes

15-20 medium kalamata olives – pit removed

60g parmesan cheese finely grated

Method

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the spaghetti and immediately mix with tongs to ensure it is immersed and not sticking together.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot and add the garlic, keeping the heat moderate. Allow the garlic to slowly brown then add the chopped basil (reserve some for garnish) and the anchovies if using.

Cook until the basil is fragrant and the anchovies have broken down.

Add the white wine, bring to the boil then reduce by one third.

Add the chicken leftovers, canned tomato and olives and bring to the boil. Simmer for 2-3 minutes then remove from the heat.